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Abstract

remove all the smaller ones.</p><p id="7048">How does this work?</p><p id="8ca0">I only buy black socks. That is one simple decision I have made once and that means I don’t have to consider what socks to buy and I don’t have to consider what socks to wear every morning.</p><p id="009a">Ok, that is maybe an easy one. So let’s look at something a bit harder.</p><p id="5220">With all the fuss around eating meat, I wanted to join the bandwagon and eat less meat. So I decided to eat less meat. That did not help. At every meal, I had to decide to eat or not to eat and it was stressful and did not help. I also had a sense of disappointment every time I ate meat, so stress compounded.</p><p id="cc2f">That’s where the big decision comes in. Instead of all these minor decisions, I have chosen to never eat meat for breakfast and lunch. That one decision has saved me at least two decisions a day plus I don’t stress when I do eat meat.</p><p id="bdab">I have done this for about a year, so I have saved myself at least 730 decisions, by making one clear and simple one.</p><p id="46c4" type="7">“If you make one big decision it can save hundreds of small decisions and points of stress”</p><p id="01d1">Don’t stress about making big decisions. You can most often undo the decision anyway. Now on to the how.</p><h1 id="724f">Decision Making Process</h1><p id="ad2b">When you have something in your life, that you want to change. Either when you have a new goal or maybe just something that gives you continuous stress in your life. Then you have an opportunity. Think about how you can upgrade that continuous stream of decisions to one big one.</p><p id="e0de">Make sure your decision is</p><ol><li>Categorical (It’s black or white, no grey here)</li><li>Make it grand, it must eliminate other smaller decisions.</li><li>

Options

Make it timely (This decision will last for XX until reevaluated)</li></ol><h2 id="a968">Benefits</h2><p id="a02e">Reducing the number of decisions you need to make every day can give you a lot of newfound peace. You cannot focus more on the important decisions and the hard parts of your life and relax in others. It is surprising how much peace of mind it can give you to stop yourself from having to choose all the time.</p><p id="6eeb">This kind of thinking can also be <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-3-best-tips-to-have-a-fantastic-relationship-68edd330768c">applied to your relationship</a> and give you some unexpected bonus there.</p><p id="b854" type="7">Think in terms of making the “One decision to rule them all”</p><p id="4936">Learning <a href="https://readmedium.com/6-steps-to-improve-your-decision-making-skills-237f3a12fcc3">how to make better decisions</a> by having a process, especially for the hard decisions, can make a tremendous difference in your life. Reflect on how you make decisions and find ways to improve yourself.</p><h2 id="2c1d">PS. List for inspiration</h2><p id="c00d">This is the list of some of the new decisions I have made during the past year</p><ul><li>From: I must eat more vegetables -> Every meal must contain vegetables</li><li>From: I want to move more -> I never take an escalator for 5 floors or less</li><li>From: I want to move more -> I will take my bike to work every day</li><li>From: I want to eat less sugar -> I never drink soda</li><li>From: I want to look at my phone less -> Sunday’s my phone lives in the kitchen drawer</li><li>From: I want to be a more positive person -> I never say a bad word about my family to anyone</li><li>From: I want to throw out less food -> I shop every Sunday for 4 days of food</li></ul></article></body>

Change your life series

How to Strengthen the Impact of Your Decision Making

Save yourself 730 hard decisions by making 1

Decisions are a part of everyday life. You are making decisions all the time from you open your eyes until you go to sleep. Some decisions are minor, like what socks should I wear, while others are greater like when to have kids.

“55% of Americans are stressed during the day” Stress.org

All these decisions put a lot of stress on our brains and are part of the information overload that is an increased risk to our mental health. And vice versa, stress leads to bad decisions. We are not build to make decisions at the moment when we are tempted the most.

Luckily there are ways to ease the pressure on your mind and reduce that stress by changing the way you make decisions.

How to make decisions

One of the simplest tricks to improve your life when it comes to decisions and information overload is to work on making fewer decisions. Removing the need to make decisions all the time. The trick is to make a few big decisions that will remove all the smaller ones.

How does this work?

I only buy black socks. That is one simple decision I have made once and that means I don’t have to consider what socks to buy and I don’t have to consider what socks to wear every morning.

Ok, that is maybe an easy one. So let’s look at something a bit harder.

With all the fuss around eating meat, I wanted to join the bandwagon and eat less meat. So I decided to eat less meat. That did not help. At every meal, I had to decide to eat or not to eat and it was stressful and did not help. I also had a sense of disappointment every time I ate meat, so stress compounded.

That’s where the big decision comes in. Instead of all these minor decisions, I have chosen to never eat meat for breakfast and lunch. That one decision has saved me at least two decisions a day plus I don’t stress when I do eat meat.

I have done this for about a year, so I have saved myself at least 730 decisions, by making one clear and simple one.

“If you make one big decision it can save hundreds of small decisions and points of stress”

Don’t stress about making big decisions. You can most often undo the decision anyway. Now on to the how.

Decision Making Process

When you have something in your life, that you want to change. Either when you have a new goal or maybe just something that gives you continuous stress in your life. Then you have an opportunity. Think about how you can upgrade that continuous stream of decisions to one big one.

Make sure your decision is

Categorical (It’s black or white, no grey here)
Make it grand, it must eliminate other smaller decisions.
Make it timely (This decision will last for XX until reevaluated)

Benefits

Reducing the number of decisions you need to make every day can give you a lot of newfound peace. You cannot focus more on the important decisions and the hard parts of your life and relax in others. It is surprising how much peace of mind it can give you to stop yourself from having to choose all the time.

This kind of thinking can also be applied to your relationship and give you some unexpected bonus there.

Think in terms of making the “One decision to rule them all”

Learning how to make better decisions by having a process, especially for the hard decisions, can make a tremendous difference in your life. Reflect on how you make decisions and find ways to improve yourself.

PS. List for inspiration

This is the list of some of the new decisions I have made during the past year

From: I must eat more vegetables -> Every meal must contain vegetables
From: I want to move more -> I never take an escalator for 5 floors or less
From: I want to move more -> I will take my bike to work every day
From: I want to eat less sugar -> I never drink soda
From: I want to look at my phone less -> Sunday’s my phone lives in the kitchen drawer
From: I want to be a more positive person -> I never say a bad word about my family to anyone
From: I want to throw out less food -> I shop every Sunday for 4 days of food